Separated by thousands of miles, two young women are about to realize their extraordinary powers which will bind their lives together in ways they can’t begin to understand.

Protecting others. Maintaining order. Being good. These are all important things for Bonnie Braverman, even if she doesn’t understand why. Confined to a group home since she survived the car accident that killed both her parents, Bonnie has lived her life until now in self-imposed isolation and silence; but when an opportunity presents itself to help another girl in need, Bonnie has to decide whether to actually use the power she has long suspected she has. Power that frightens her.

Across the country, Lola LeFever is inheriting her own power by sending her mother over a cliff…literally. For Lola the only thing that matters is power; getting it, taking it, and eliminating anyone who would get in the way of her pursuit of it. With her mother dead and nothing to hold her back from the world any longer, Lola sets off to test her own powers on anyone unfortunate enough to cross her. And Lola’s not afraid of anything.

One girl driven to rescue, save, and heal; the other driven to punish, destroy, and kill.

And now they’re about to meet.

I honestly cannot wait to read it. No, I haven’t read the whole thing yet – Kelly and I met online (she’s based in New York) and it’s not like we know each other super well or anything. But I knew we’d get on the moment we started chatting. She really is someone I have a lot of respect for, and having read the opening chapters of the book (AVAILABLE HERE), I want more. Now.

Kelly loves superheroes. She REALLY loves Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She’s a feminist, so I know her female characters are gonna rock.

As well as the beautiful cover (by hugely respected comics artist, Stephanie Hans), there’ll be plenty of other great art to support the project. Remember however, this is not a graphic novel – Kelly just knows lots of comic book creators thanks to her work as a reviewer and columnist for Comic Book Resources, and the podcast she runs (which I always listen to): 3 Chicks Review Comics. There are some cool incentives if you back the Kickstarter, including magnets depicting the two main characters, Bonnie and Lola, illustrated by Ross Campbell. I love these:

THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING came very close to finding a publishing house – one of the biggest out there. Sadly, it was deemed too difficult to market as it sort of fell between genres and ‘age groups’. It just: wasn’t YA enough. Even though Kelly and her agent shelved the project and moved onto her next novel, she couldn’t let it go. She didn’t want to cut the violence and make it a different book – she wanted to publish it the way it was meant to be published. Let people read it for themselves and see if it’s something they could get into. That’s when she turned to Kickstarter with the idea of funding things like editing, printing, shipping, cover art, etc. I admire people who use setbacks to inspire them – Kelly came out fighting for this book and these characters.

The campaign has only been up for a day and it’s already more than halfway to the goal amount of $8,000. If you’re still undecided, you can keep an eye on Kelly’s blog as she’ll be giving away the entire first part of the book FREE in installments, every Tuesday and Thursday. You can download each part as a PDF, as well as just read it online. In terms of cost, if you pledge $10 to the Kickstarter you’ll get a digital copy of the book, but $20 gets you a print edition. There’s also a limited hardcover option if you can afford the higher levels of funding.

More art by Stephanie Hans.

Thanks for listening! Excuse me while I go watch the Kickstarter page, just in case any new rewards get unlocked…